The molecular weight of Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) is 110.9834.
To calculate molecular weight of any compound, the first step is to know the constituent elements (atoms) and their number in that particular compound. Then calculate the total atomic weight of each element by multiplying its atomic weight by its number. The sum of total atomic weight of all constituent elements will be the molecular weight of the compound. Note that the value of atomic weight may differ from different sources.
CALCULATION PROCEDURE
Step 1: Find out the chemical formula and determine constituent atoms and their number in a Calcium Chloride molecule.
From the chemical formula, you will know different atoms and their number in a Calcium chloride molecule. Chemical formula of Calcium chloride is CaCl2. From the chemical formula of Calcium chloride, it is easy to find out that there are one Calcium (Ca) atom and two Chlorine (Cl) atoms in a molecule of Calcium chloride.
Step 2: Find out atomic weights of each atom (from periodic table).
Atomic weight of Calcium (Ca): 40.078 (Ref: Pubchem-20, Ciaaw-calcium)
Atomic weight of chlorine (Cl) : 35.4527 (Ref: Pubchem-Chlorine, jlab-ele017)
Step 3: Calculate the molecular weight of Calcium chloride by adding the total weight of all atoms.
Number of Calcium atoms in Calcium chloride: 1
Atomic weight of Calcium: 40.078
Total weight of Calcium atoms in Calcium chloride: 40.078 x 1 = 40.078
Number of Chlorine atoms in Calcium chloride: 2
Atomic weight of Chlorine: 35.4527
Total weight of Chlorine atoms in Calcium chloride: 35.4527 x 2 = 70.9054
Step 4: Calculate the molecular weight of Calcium chloride by adding up the total weight of all atoms.
Molecular weight of Calcium chloride (CaCl2): 40.078 (Calcium) + 70.9054 (Chlorine)
So the molecular weight of Calcium chloride is 110.9854.
| Molecular weight of Calcium chloride (CaCl2) | |||
| Atoms (elements) in Calcium chloride | Number of each atom in Calcium chloride | Atomic weight of each atom | Total weight of each atom in Calcium chloride |
| Ca (Calcium) | 1 | 40.078 | 40.078 (40.078 x 1) |
| Cl (Chlorine) | 2 | 35.4527 | 70.9054 (35.4527 x 2) |
| Molecular weight of Calcium chloride (CaCl2): | 110.9834 | ||
REFERENCES:
- Pubchem-20: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/element/20
- Ciaaw-calcium: https://www.ciaaw.org/calcium.htm
- Jlab-ele020: https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele020.html
- Pubchem-Chlorine: https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/element/Chlorine
- jlab-ele017: https://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele017.html
